He considered himself a decent one. After all, he had been able to move from his home in France to America using only the funds he had gathered selling his artwork. That could be considered some version of success, could it not?

He had known no one when he had arrived in Simtown. He was a stranger in a strange land, offering to sketch passerby for a few simoleons just to make enough for his next meal. Although he had been able to pay for his passage to America with the money he had made from his artwork, that did not mean he had any left afterward.

One day, he met Andre. Andre was also French, though he had lived in Simtown much longer than Michel. He asked Michel for a portrait, offering one hundred simoleons if he could complete it within ten minutes. Michel accepted the challenge, and managed to sketch the chiseled features of Andre (“Dupuy,” he said, as he sat very still. He must have been a model in the past, or perhaps he was just very good at sitting still? “That’s my last name.”) in just below nine minutes. Andre Dupuy paid the promised amount, plus a generous tip, and asked if Michel would visit him and sketch him again, perhaps a full-body portrait next time. Michel agreed. He moved into Andre’s home within three weeks.

It was a wonderful life. Andre was well-to-do, and could easily support Michel and his artistic endeavors. Michel became well-known around Simtown as the eccentric French artist (well, who could argue with that description?), and was able to charge more for his work as time went on. A month passed, two, three. Michel could sell one painting for five hundred simoleons easily. It was truly a wonderful life--a wonderful, easy life.

Until Joanna.

Joanna had no last name. Nor did she have a history. She was just Joanna, a drifter sailing in on the wind from some unknown place. Her hair was nearly white, though not nearly as white as her skin. Her eyes were the color of the lake in Sim Park in the earliest part of the dawn. She did not appear to have traveled to Simtown; she had just...appeared.

Michel saw her walking past the salon during one of his sketching runs. She took his breath away immediately; he knew he must have her model for him.

He approached her carefully, attempting to present his proposition in a way which would not scare her off. She seemed so delicate, and he wondered how she did not shatter into a thousand pieces as she tapped her foot absently against the ground. At the end of his speech, she considered him for a moment with those eyes--those eyes--and told him yes, she would model for him.

Andre was away that day. Some sort of business trip, who really knew? Michel could not guess whether he would have been upset if he had seen the beautiful woman (“Joanna,”, he murmured) step through the door into the living room, pass through the house, walk through the kitchen door, and languorously lean against the back of the house as Michel brought out his sketchbook and began to draw.

After seeing some of the stories here, I got extremely inspired. There is much more where this came from--it's a monster, but it anyone is interested, I'd be happy to post it.

AliciaWS720 on Game Center: §418 mil town value, VIP 10, level 55. Started as a new game during the DIY update. Special thanks to all of you very creative people on this forum for inspiration in designing houses!